Major General James G. Blunt

Calvin and Hobbes is a comic strip written and illustrated by Bill Watterson, following the humorous antics of Calvin, an imaginative six-year old boy, and Hobbes, his energetic and sardonic—albeit stuffed—tiger. The pair are named after John Calvin, a 16th century French Reformation theologian, and Thomas Hobbes, a 17th century English political philosopher. The strip was syndicated daily from November 18, 1985 to December 31, 1995. At its height, Calvin and Hobbes was carried by over 2,400 newspapers worldwide. To date, more than 30 million copies of the 18 Calvin and Hobbes books have been printed. The strip is vaguely set in the contemporary Midwestern United States, on the outskirts of suburbia, a location probably inspired by Watterson's home town of Chagrin Falls, Ohio. Calvin and Hobbes appear in most of the strips, while a small number focus on other supporting characters. The broad themes of the strip deal with Calvin's flights of fantasy, his friendship with Hobbes, his misadventures, his views on a diverse range of political and cultural issues and his relationships and interactions with his parents, classmates, educators, and other members of society. The dual nature of Hobbes is also a recurring motif. Calvin sees Hobbes one way (alive), while other characters see him as something else (a stuffed animal).

Anarky is a fictional character in the DC Comics Universe. Co-created by Alan Grant and Norm Breyfogle, he first appeared in Detective Comics #608 (November 1989) as an adversary of Batman. Stories revolving around Anarky often focus on political and philosophical themes. Named after the philosophy of anarchism, the primary philosophical element that has underscored the character's appearances has been anti-statism. With Grant's transition to the philosophy of Neo-Tech, Anarky was transformed from a vehicle for socialist and populist philosophy, to rationalist, atheist, and free market based thought. Inspired by multiple sources, early stories to feature the character often included homages to political and philosophical books. The creation of the character was also partially influenced by Alan Moore's character "V" from V for Vendetta. Originally intended to only be used in the debut story in which he appeared, positive reception by readers and his editor convinced Grant to continue using Anarky as a recurring character throughout the early 90s. This popular acclaim culminated, however, in a financially and critically unsuccessful ongoing solo series. The 1999 Anarky series, in which even Alan Grant has expressed his distaste, was quickly canceled after eight issues.

• ...that publication of comics in Hungary largely stopped during World War II due to Nazi pressure?

• ...that the Young Justice episode "Independence Day" introduces a younger version of the DC Universe?

• ...that Friz Freleng's 1937 cartoon Clean Pastures narrowly evaded Hollywood Production Code censors, before being removed from distribution by United Artists in 1968?

• ...that pixel artists are featured in an annual juried art show, "Into the Pixel", at the E3 trade show for computer and video game industries?

The Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story is given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories told in graphic form and published in English or translated into English during the previous calendar year. The Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story has been awarded annually since 2009. It was started then with the requirement that it would only continue as an official award if approved again by the World Science Fiction Society after that year. It was, and was again awarded in 2010; it will need to be ratified again after the 2012 awards in order to continue. Hugo Award nominees and winners are chosen by supporting or attending members of the annual World Science Fiction Convention, or Worldcon, and the presentation evening constitutes its central event. The selection process is defined in the World Science Fiction Society Constitution as instant-runoff voting with five nominees, except in the case of a tie as happened in 2009. In the four years that the award has been active, twenty-one works from twelve series have been nominated. Girl Genius, written by Kaja and Phil Foglio, drawn by Phil Foglio, and colored by Cheyenne Wright, won the first three awards.

Julie Kavner (born September 7, 1950) is an American film and television actress, comedian and voice artist. Noted for her role as Marge Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons, she also voices other characters for the show, including Patty and Selma Bouvier. Born in Los Angeles, Kavner grew up in Southern California, attending Beverly Hills High School and later San Diego State University. Known for her improvisation and distinctive "honeyed gravel voice," Kavner was cast in her first professional acting role as Brenda Morgenstern in Rhoda in 1974. She received a Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Primetime Emmy Award in 1978 and several more award nominations for playing the character. Following Rhoda, Kavner was cast in The Tracey Ullman Show, which debuted in 1987. The Tracey Ullman Show included a series of animated shorts about a dysfunctional family. Voices were needed for the shorts, so the producers decided to ask Kavner to voice Marge. The shorts would eventually be spun off into The Simpsons.

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